Abstract:
An investigation was made into the relationship between modern seismic design in concrete, contemporary art and the current concern for social, economic and environmental sustainability, with the results displayed as an exhibition called Push Over at the St Paul Street Gallery in early August 2009. The project involved the reconstruction and simulated seismic testing of a beam-column joint element that lies at the heart of the gallery, supporting its ceiling and the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Visual Arts building above. The remains of the tested element were then displayed in the gallery beneath the original joint. In this way an analogy was made between the notions of structural, cultural, and environmental collapse, and a direct connection drawn between our conception of the abstract art object – art as existing apart from life – and our encounters with the physical remains of failed cultures and societies – objects that have lost their world. The particular relationship between art, seismic design, and vulnerability assessment illustrated by this artwork is articulated here, and discussion pertaining to the many challengers resulting from laboratory testing in reinforced concrete at a 1:1 scale is provided.
